I-22 Connects Memphis, TN to Birmingham, AL

Producer: Kirkpatrick
Location: Jefferson County, Alabama

Completing Interstate 22 in Alabama has been a multi-year project that wrapped up in 2015 when the $168 million initiative opened for business across a 213-mile-long stretch between Memphis, Tenn., and Birmingham, Ala.

Construction began in 2010 on the network of 14 ramps and bridges that follow the U.S. 78 corridor (Corridor X). I-22 is part of an interstate highway system that connects downtown Atlanta with Birmingham, Memphis, Little Rock, and Oklahoma City.

“This was the single largest project that the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) has ever put out as part of one big package,” said Rick Passey, Kirkpatrick Concrete, Inc.’s Sales Manager - Central Division.

The company started pouring concrete for the project in 2009 and is on track to pour the last deck bridge by the end of 2016.

For the project, the concrete structures include bridge substructures and super-structures, barrier rails, and utility work. To date, Kirkpatrick has placed over 70,000 cubic yards of concrete on the highway’s bridges. “From a quality standpoint,” said Passey, “this has been an extremely successful job for us.”

Throughout the life of the project Kirkpatrick encountered a number of timing and access issues, both of which are fairly common on jobsites where active traffic lanes inhibit ingress and egress at the jobsite. “We’re talking about a pretty large work area, so everything either has to be placed with a crane and a bucket, or with a pump.”

Despite the huge scope of the multi-year, unprecedented road project, Passey said the overall initiative progressed well with few hiccups. “The learning curve was steep at the outset,” he said, “but once ALDOT hit its stride, everything kind of just fell into place and started going very well.”